Weavers of Circumstance
by SnowSystem
Summary: Kayura has a dream that can change the fate of the Dyanasty forever! But will the change be good or bad? Read and Review!
1. Hey Bebe

Greetings all!  This is my first posted fic so help me out some.  Just for note, I'll probably take it down and upload it again every once in a while just so all the bugs can get out.  Anyway, there is a bit of irony in this—I can't STAND Lady Kayura!  But she was a good engine and I have managed to treat her relatively well, so fear not Kayura fans, I promise she's OK.^^  Enjoy!

(I don't own any of the characters in this story, except maybe one or two—I just write about'em) 

Weavers of Circumstance 

_"It is almost time."_

"Yes my lord."

_"…I am worried though."_

"Why is that?"

_"I risk much being so tied."_

"I will not matter in the end.  Both realms shall swiftly fall before you."

_"I am aware…but the means are so natal."_

"It is the only way to secure yourself on their plain."

_"Very will.  Has a suitable host been chosen?"_

"Yes my lord."

_"Good.  Let it be done."_

Kayura sat quietly on the floor in her bare room.  She had been reading a book by candlelight for some time.  Finishing another page, she decided to stop there.  Placing the book down beside her, she stretched leisurely upward giving out a small sigh.  Perhaps some fresh air was in order.  Standing, she moved to the door.  Slipping into her sandals, she exited the room unaware of the figure that stood in the shadows to the rear of her chamber.

"Perfect."

Several minutes later, Kayura found herself looking over a bridge crossing a pond in one of the Dynasty's numerous gardens.  It was the South Garden, the biggest in the complex.  The crystal clear water of the pond came from a small waterfall at the far end of the bank.  Carp and other small fish swam about it lazily.  Frogs on lily pads sounded softly as dragonflies hovered about the water's surface—the water itself seemed to shoot the breeze.  Kayura gave a contented sigh; there were few places in the Dynasty that allowed for this kind of mind easing tranquility.

Coming out of her musings, Kayura noticed a man in a long dark garment not far from her.  Long black hair outlined a sharp, deathly pale face; his eyes were closed.

"Who are you?"  Kayura inquired of the stranger.  His eyes slowly opened to reveal a pair of piercing light-gray eyes; the sight of which sending shivers down Kayura's spine.  The man walked to her until he was at the end of the bridge, which was not far from where she stood.  Kayura studied him closely.  He was a handsome fellow with sharp features.  He had a long slender nose and small lips, almond shaped eyes into which wild bangs fell, and a perfectly flawless face.  His shoulders were broad and he was tall—if put next to him, Kayura would have been a best a foot and a half shorter.  From the look of it, his garment consisted of a long-necked chemise, a cloak, and what appeared to be an ankle-length dress, accented with a belt no less.  There was a split up the center to his waist that revealed a pair of dark pants.  On his feet were boots that came to just below the knee; they were black and heavy with several belt straps running the length of it. "I asked you who you were, answer me." She said, annoyed by his silence after too much time had passed.

"My name is Soja-no; I came bearing your destiny."  He replied in a low, cool voice.  Kayura raised a confused brow.  "Humph.  I don't know what you're talking about; I suggest you leave now before you are met with an unpleasant confrontation."

His eyes suddenly darkened, and a wicked grin spread across his face.  "The only one meeting an 'unpleasant confrontation' is _you_."  He leapt swiftly, and before Kayura could react, her world when black.

****

She didn't know how long she was out for, but when she awoke, Kayura found herself in a large dark space.  Dismissing this fact, she quickly climbed to her feet to transform into her battle regalia.  However she was stopped short when a blow to the head knocked her to the ground.  Rolling onto her back, she attempted to stand again.  Only this time the floor itself halted her movements.  Long boil-covered cords swiftly entangled her, winding themselves tightly around her wrists, ankles, waist and neck.  Effectively pinned, Kayura soon ceased her struggles.  Everything grew still; her eyes darted about quickly trying to find something, anything.  All she could see though was a strange mist that ebbed and swirled high above her head.  Upon hearing footsteps, her heart began to race with panic.  The footsteps stopped and into her view came the man from the bridge.

"Release me!"  Kayura hissed with a furrowed brow and clenched teeth. The man chuckled. "Masking your fear with anger.  How human.  Only though I would expect it more from the males of your species."

"What do you want from me?!"

"I told you.  The inception of your providence begins with me."

"What are you talking about?"  She growled.

He chuckled more.  "You are the womb of a new era. You've been specially selected for a most important task.  Heh, you should feel honored, for you stand on the cusp of the greatest chapter in your pathetic little existence."

In his words, her bonds shifted, positioning Kayura frontally to face her captor.

"What are you going to do?"  Her voice laced with worry.

He grinned evilly again, large black leathery wings sprouting from his back as he did so.  The irises of his gray eyes disappeared and his pale flesh turned into a solid pewter gray.  His wear faded off of him to reveal a lithe muscular nude body.  Kayura took one look at his appendage and felt her heart stop with realization.  "You wouldn't dare!"

The demon chuckled deeply in his throat.  "Virgin, virgin."

Kayura gasped as fear began to clam her.  The demon looked upward.  Kayura blinked once and flowed his gaze.  Above them floated a black sphere about the size of a softball.  The demon extended his hands and the sphere floated down to hover above his palms.  He looked at her then grinned again.  Taking the ball, he pressed it to his abdomen.  Kayura watched as his face contorted into what looked like pain as he slowly pushed the sphere into his navel.  Her eyes grew wide with mounting horror as the navel expanded around the ball, swallowing the object into himself.  He continued to grunt in discomfort until the sphere was completely inside of him.  "Now…" He stepped to Kayura and lifted the long flowing kimono up to her waist.  "Shall we begin?"

"NO!"  She bellowed as she crushed her legs together.  "Come now, let us not be difficult.  I promise you no discomfort."

"No, I don't care!  Leave me alone and let me go!"  She continued to shriek as she futilely struggled against her bonds.  Two black cords grew up from the floor and wrapped themselves around her thighs, pulling them open.  Kayura strained with all her might to keep them together.  Rebel as she did, the cords succeeded in revealing her opening; tears filled her tightly shut eyes as she whimpered in her helplessness.  A moment later, Kayura could feel him slide easily into her, and she was confused.  She had expected great pain from the breaching of her barrier, but felt nothing except the long even strokes that sent waves of pleasurable sensation through her. Kayura sighed breathlessly as her body and mind swam with sexual stimulation.  The only thing she could think of was the ease of his thrusts and his unexpected gentleness.  She couldn't believe this was happening to her, but god it felt good!  Kayura moaned in time with his motions as her head swayed back and forth with the heat of his length edging her toward completion.  Suddenly her breath hitched, and her body clenched and shuttered.  It was the most delicious sensation she had ever experienced in her life.  After a moment, her body relaxed and Kayura's eyes fluttered closed.

****

Kayura jolted awake.  Disoriented, she began to move her head, but grabbed the side of her neck to massage a terrible crick that stiffened it.  Her lower back was pained as well; it cracked loudly as she arched the kinks out of it.  Grumbling, she took notice of the item clutched in her other hand—it was the book she had been reading, thumb still holding her place.  Kayura was in fact, back in her room.

'My god, was that a dream?'  She wondered in confusion.  But it couldn't have been, it was too real—it _felt_ too real.  Suddenly a sense of dread washed over her; 'I know I didn't fall asleep.' Kayura debated.  Was her ability to discern fantasy and reality beginning to wane?  She rubbed her forehead and sighed.  "Whatever.  It was a dream, a very vivid dream—forget about it."


	2. New News to Find

Greetings all!  This is the second edition of my first posted fic.  Just for note, I'll probably take it down and upload it again every once in a while just so all the bugs can get out (like I've done once already (^^;).  Enjoy!

(I don't own any of the characters in this story, except maybe one or two—I just write about'em)

**_Chapter 2_**

She sat up from her pallet, her stomach lurching again.  Kayura climbed to her feet and hobbled over to a nearby pail, which she had recently started to keep.  She knelt down and began to dry heave into it.  Her gag reflex kicked in and she vomited.  "Ughhhhhn." She huffed miserably as her stomach settled.  For three days Kayura had been enduring this.  "Was is something I ate?"  She asked herself.  But somehow Kayura didn't figure it bad sushi.  Finishing, she went to wash her mouth and pail; bathed afterward, and dressed for the day in her normal non-battle garb.  Leaving her room, she strolled down the corridor with no particular destination in mind.  "Ugh, I'm so tired."  Kayura sighed to herself.  "I know; I'll get something to eat."  Reaching the kitchen, she requested some mesu soup, then headed to a nearby garden to enjoy it.

The morning was warm with a light breeze.  Birds were singing in the cherry trees and various small furry animals were happily scurrying about.  It was perfect—except for the fact Kayura was about to hurl.  She had eaten only half of her small bowl of soup, but in a minute it was about to be all over the soft green grass.  "Oh god." She sighed in her bubbling nausea.  A few seconds later, Kayura's breakfast was right where she predicted.  "Ugh, what is wrong with me?" She moaned as she cradled her now aching head.  "It's got to be food poisoning." Kayura confirmed at last.  Feeling miserable, she returned to her chambers to lie down.

She woke up a few hours later to find the same nausea plaguing her.  Immediately Kayura went to retrieve her pail.  After emptying her stomach's contents, she sat wearily next to her pallet.  "Maybe I should get someone to look at this."  She though for a moment wondering who would be the best candidate for the role of physician.  Kayura grimaced at the conclusion.  "Badamon?  Surly I can do better than that."  However she decided to settle when another wave of nausea hit.

****

"Badamon, Badamon where are you?  Show yourself."  Kayura called out into the empty room.

"Yes Lady Kayura?  To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" Cooed Badamon, his words hissing as he appeared out of the dark.

"I am ill, and I think that food poisoning might be the cause.  I would like for you to treat this if necessary.

"Lady Kayura, I am the High Priest of the Nether Spirits, not a doctor--"

"I don't care what you _are_," Kayura interrupted.  " I just want you to do it because I know you can.  Make a cure spell or something; I've been nauseated and vomiting for days now and I want it to end!"

"Very well."  Badamon replied, his pale dead face devoid of emotion.  He closed his eyes and hummed a few bars of some incantation.  Two small blue flames appeared on either side of his head, then floated down to Kayura.  They twirled about her from head to toe, then came back to rest next to Badamon.  He opened his eyes and looked at her.  "There is nothing I can do."

Kayura blinked then scowled.  "What do you mean?"

"I cannot cure what is not afflicted.  Good day Lady."  With that, he vanished into the emptiness of the room.

"Hey!  You come back here!  What are you talking about!" She yelled into the air.  "Ugh!  How dare he!" Kayura huffed stamping her foot.  She folded her arms and scowled more as she tried to figure why Badamon could do nothing. 'He said I wasn't sick, but I am!  How can you not be sick if your tossing your cookies every time you…wake up in the… morning…' Kayura's inner voice trailed off.  Her stomach turned again, only this time not from nausea.  "No…" she whispered to the darkness.  "No--no."  She repeated again as she spun on her heals to leave.  Kayura all but ran back to her bedroom.  She flew through the sliding door and slammed it shut behind her, still holding onto it as she stared intensely at the floor.  "It can't be."  She whispered again as she slowly stepped into the middle of the room.  "No, it can't be.  I won't believe it!"  Kayura refuted, her eyes wide with disbelief, shock and anger.  Suddenly she willed away her kimono and replaced it with Mortal World street clothes—some jeans and a red long-sleeved turtle neck with black boots.

****

It was early spring in the Mortal World; a cool breeze blew through the crowded streets.  Kayura looked around almost franticly trying to find anything discredit the horrible notion she prayed wasn't true.  Finally she stopped at the corner of a busy intersection.  'Calm down Kayura, you're not going to get anywhere if you're all panicky.' She told herself.  After taking a deep breath, she turned to a person standing on her right—a woman in a long black trench coat…a pregnant woman.  "Excuse me miss, but do you know where the nearest medical facility is?"

"Yeah sure, it's down the block on the right, the Greatsfield Medical Center.  Is there something the matter?"  Kayura looked at the woman—her distress must have been apparent.  She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Would you like some help?  I could walk you there if you like, I'm in no hurry."  The woman said, her face full of concern.

Kayura still continued to look stunned.  "Yeah, I think I will take you there, come on honey."  Said the woman as she ushered Kayura down the sidewalk.  "What's you're name?"  She asked.

"K-Kayura."

"Well Kayura, I'm Trisha.  Now, are you sick, do you feel sick?"

"Uh, I uh, have been feeling sick in the morning, and I didn't know why until…"

"Until?  What?"

"I was uh, in my room, I had just thrown up—I'm not sick but…"

"Have you missed your period?"  Her period?  In over 400 years she never even had a period!  Kayura just gave Trisha a dazed look.

"Ah, I see."  Trisha said slowing them both to a stop.  "Have you been throwing up every time you wake up?"  Kayura nodded.  "Have you been throwing up after eating only a little?"  She nodded again.  "Have you been getting plenty of rest but you still feel tired all day?"  Kayura nodded a third time—she didn't like the conclusion this line of questioning was drawing to.

"It sounds to me like you might be pregnant."  Trisha said at last—saying the one thing Kayura didn't want to hear.

"No, no, it can't be—I haven't done anything."

"Well I'm sure, but you still may be pregnant.  Look, instead of going to Greatsfield, why don't we go to the pregnancy resource center?  It's just a little passed the hospital—they'll give you a free test, and there'll be lots of information for you."

Trisha walked with Kayura to the center, mostly in silence.  When they reached the door, Trisha stopped her.  "Now, do you think you're gunna be ok, or would you like me to come with you?"

"I think I can manage."

"You sure?"

"Yes, thank you."

With that, Trisha nodded curtly, then walked away.  After the woman had rounded the corner, Kayura faced the door, suddenly scared to death.  She entered the building and walked to the front desk where she was greeted by a young woman in scrubs with a stethoscope around her neck.  "Hey, how can I help you?"

Kayura blushed a little.  "Do you have a…p-pregnancy tester?"

"Sure!"  The woman said cheerily as she rummaged behind the counter for one.  "The instructions for use are in the box, the bathroom is down the hall if you wanna take the test here."

"Thank you, but I think I'll just use it at home."

"Sure, no prob.  If you come up positive, you know where to find us.  Good luck!"

Kayura smiled weakly at the woman then turned to leave.

****

Back on her pallet, Kayura found herself staring intently at the white plastic object.  The instructions said that a negative sign would appear in the little box if she weren't pregnant, but somehow she knew that possibility was highly unlikely.  Several minutes passed, and a symbol was beginning to appear in the box.  It only took a second for the symbol to come into full view…

And all Kayura could do was stare.  She wanted to scream.  She wanted to race through the castle howling at the top of her lungs then collapse in a heap and die—but all she did was stare.

"It wasn't a dream…" She finally breathed, tears flooding her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.  "It wasn't a dream."

Kayura soon found herself pacing the room franticly.  "This is not happening to me, this is _not _happening to _me_!"  She fussed as she went.  Flopping down onto her bed, she quickly ran her 'dream' through her mind.  If it had been real—then yes, it would make sense that she would be pregnant.  "What am I gunna do?"  Kayura asked herself.  "If master Talpa found out, who _knows_ what he'll do?  And if those four bastards knew, it'd be all over, Badamon too!  Dear god!  How am I gunna hide this?  Oh, no one can know, its as simple as that—but how?"  Kayura questioned herself as her mind raced.  After a while she put her head in her hands.  That wasn't the only part of it.  There was still the stipulation of the circumstances surrounding the conception.  What scared Kayura the most was the possibility of the child not even being human; if she had remembered correctly, her assailant certainly was not.

Unimaginable fears shot through Kayura as all the horrible possibilities flashed before her eyes.  She began to cry again.  All she wanted now were answers she knew she wouldn't get, and the only person that could possibly tell her anything was one that she might not ever see again.  Taking a deep breath however, she tried to think clearly.  The man that apparently abducted her had mentioned things she now figured vitally important.

"Ugh! What did he say!"  Kayura growled as she gripped her head forcing herself to remember.  "Something, something about my destiny.  That I was to be the womb of a new era…damn it, what does that mean?!"  She sighed heavily in frustration.  "Maybe I should tell master Talpa about this, anything could happen."  Another fear gripped her.  "No, no I shouldn't.  I'll probably be punished for it—I don't think I'll be able to take that; and its not like I can just disappear for nine months.  …I need help."  But that was something she wasn't going to get.  After returning to some degree of peace, how ever fragile, she figured that this was a challenge she had to meet by herself.  She was a warrior after all, she could suck it up—she'd have to.

AN: Yeah, yeah I know it moves kinda slow—but it'll pick up—promise!


	3. Happy Hiding Blues

Greetings all!  This is the third edition of my first posted fic.  I think I got the hang of the bugs so I won't havta keep up and downloading it.^^

Chapter 3 

Kayura was rapidly ending her first trimester and she was beginning to show a little.

"I can tell already this is going to be a problem.  I'm starting to get pudgy around the middle."  She commented while examining her belly.  "I just hope master Talpa doesn't have any exercises or missions he wants me to go on—I can't fit my waist guard anymore."

Over the past few months, Kayura made frequent trips to the Mortal World for information and insight on what to expect.  When there, they would want to do what they called an ultrasound on her, but she always declined.  This had on many occasions caused tension for her because she was often afraid at what might come up on the screen.  If it were indeed a demonic fetus, Kayura certainly wouldn't want the physicians to get involved.  "I hate not knowing anything."  She sighed.

****

Another month passed—and Kayura was growing increasingly grateful for the bagginess of her kimono.  She could feel the 'child' moving now, and it often kept her from falling completely asleep.  She was always hungry and she always had to go to the bathroom.  Kayura also didn't care for the ridiculous cravings that plagued her at all hours—and then there was the rash.  It didn't hurt or itch; it was just these patches of red, red skin that appeared on her chest, back and stomach.  After doing some research on her own, she discovered that such symptoms were not normal.  But then again, so was this pregnancy.  Kayura figured though if it got any worse, she would see one of the Mortal World doctors—they seemed helpful.

It was about noon when she headed to the kitchen.  Upon arriving, she requested a double order of dumplings.  "This eating for two sucks—I don't even _like _dumplings."  Kayura grumbled walking back to her room.  After consuming her meal—Kayura began feeling flushed.  "Ugh, I _hate_ this!  If it were up to me I would have _never_ gotten pregnant!" She thought bitterly as she curled up to take a nap.  No sooner had she dozed off however, she found herself being summoned by emperor Talpa.  Kayura sat up quickly, suddenly very anxious.  He had not once called her to his throne room since Kayura discovered she was with child.  "Oh god—I knew this was coming."  She moaned, standing.

****

In the throne room, Kayura found that the other Warlords were already there.  Taking a position on the other side of Anubis, Kayura waited patiently for the appearance of their leader.  Appearing shortly in his full-bodied form, Talpa took a seat on his stool.

"There has been a lack of activity on your part."  He began. "None of you have been sparing as regularly as you should.  I am willing to over look this, but it will not go completely without warning.  I want each of you to assess and give a rigorous logistical report on each of your vassals and their armies beneath you.  That ought to occupy your much 'free' time for now. Meet together and draw up a plan of action for this task.  Bring your assessments to me when you are completed; you have two weeks."  Orders dictated, Talpa vanished to attend other matters.

"I don't _believe_ this!  A logistical report?  I don't know the first thing about writing one of those!"  Droned Sekhmet.

"Stop whining.  We're over due for such a task anyway—we are generals after all, we might as well start acting like them."  Dais retorted.  "Although I don't understand why he included Kayura in this—she has no vassals."  He continued.  They all looked at her; suddenly Anubis frowned.  "What's wrong with you?  You look sick."

"I-I don't know.  While master Talpa was talking, I started to feel sick and faint."

"Maybe you should go back to your room, you look like you're going to pass out."  Suggested Cale.  No sooner had he said so, Kayura whirled around and vomited.  She could feel the heat of embarrassment on her face as she continued to spill her dumplings.

"Oh _god._"  Sekhmet grumbled as he sneered in disgust.  Kayura stopped only for a moment to catch her breath as she felt more bile coming.  And come it did with frightening intensity; she had to hold her midsection to keep from falling over into it.  Her eyes went wide as the stream of vomit turned from white to black, with what looked like large chunks of—whatever.

"Is that blood?!"  Cale asked with a shocked gasp.  As the bile continued to flow, Kayura felt a terrible heat radiate from her uterus, and suddenly the sick and frighteningly large puddle at her feet began to quiver.

"Kayura?!" Said Anubis as he and the others rushed to her side.

"GET BACK!"  Came her muffled yell as she shoved Anubis away.  Kayura couldn't allow them to get near—not when something so terrible was brewing inside of her.  Covering her mouth as the black vomit continued to leak through her fingers, Kayura dashed away and vanished.

"What in the world was _that_?!"  Inquired Dais as he looked back at the others.  Sekhmet looked over at the ungodly pile of vomit still spreading over the floor.  "There's something seriously wrong, the stomach can't even hold that much!"

"I'm going after her."  Anubis stated as he vanished from the room.

****

Kayura raced to her chambers as fast as she could; thankfully the vomiting had stopped.  Running through the door, she slammed it fiercely.  Kayura slumped to her knees and started to cry, the heat still engulfing her.  She felt so disgusting; she cried harder as she looked herself over.  Kayura could only imagine how deplorable she must have appeared; her mouth, hands and entire front of her kimono were covered in the cold, thick, black and sticky fluid. She wiped her face on the sleeves of her kimono as she continued to sob.

"Kayura?  Kayura open the door!"  Came Anubis' voice.

"N-no!" She choked out barely.

"Open it or I'm coming in there by myself!" He warned.  Kayura made no move to protest and once again he was at her side.

"Kayura!"  He said as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"No, get out!  Let me go!"  She struggled.

"I won't!"  Anubis retorted as he grabbed her flailing wrists.

"STOP IT!"  She bellowed.  Finally he pinned her arms at her side.  "No, Kayura—you're very ill, tell me what's going on!  I want to help you!"

"If you want to help me, then leave me alone—I'm _fine_."

"No you're not!"

"Let go!"  She growled snatching away.  He moved to stop her, but was halted by an unusually strong punch to his chest plate that sent him onto his bottom.  "GET OUUUUT!!" Kayura bellowed as she stumbled onto her knees not far from him, curling into a ball as she did so.

"Fine." He said quietly after staring.  "But if you need me I'm right outside the door. Don't you croak on me Kayura."  With that, Anubis rose silently and left.

AN:  *peaking out from behind rock*  No, no!  Don't hurt me!  I know it was short but I'll do better!  The next one is longer I know.  Thanks for reading!!^^


	4. Who's That Guy?

Greetings all!  This is the fourth edition of my first posted fic.  I think I got the hang of the bugs so I won't havta keep up and downloading it.^^

Chapter 4 

She felt her head—burning up; although it's hard to gauge when feeling yourself for a fever.  It had been several hours since the incident, and Anubis was still perched outside her door like the ever-vigilant watchdog.  It was a kind gesture, how ever unnecessary.  Dragging herself from her bed, Kayura lumbered to the door and slid it open enough to converse with an unsub-armored Anubis, who had since took to sitting on the floor.

"It's been a long time, why don't you go work on your report, I assure you I'll be fine."

"Kayura," he said looking up at her. "You scared all of us with that shit—we thought you were throwing up your insides, and now you say you're alright?  I don't buy it—you look like you're about to drop now."

"I just have a bit of a fever, that's all." She said trying to brush him off.

"Let me see." Anubis said climbing to his feet.  Kayura allowed him to feel her forehead, face and neck.

"Yes, and you're hot.  Go lie down now and I'll get you some water."  Kayura rolled her eyes and began to protest.  "I won't hear any of it; do it now before I knock your ass out and force that water down your throat."  Begrudged, Kayura reluctantly followed his orders.  He examined her one last time when he returned with a large pitcher.  "Alright, I'm gone.  If you need anything, give me a signal."  She nodded, then watched him as he left.  Sighing tiredly, she eased herself onto her pillow in order to take a nap.  Just as she closed her eyes though, Kayura suddenly felt another presence.  She sat up slowly as she peered into the dim light of the room.  Suddenly a voice spoke from her right and caused her bolt from her spot on the floor.

"I'm sorry, I did not mean to startle you."

"Wait, I know that voice…show yourself!"  She barked, looking for the source of the voice.

"Here."  He said as his image formed out of the shadows.

"YOU!" Kayura spat as she leapt to her feet.

"Careful now, you're ill, remember?  You wouldn't want to get all dizzy."

"How do you know that, have you been _watching me_?"

"Of course I have," he said as he came closer. "I need to stay abreast of the condition of the host."

"Why you…!" She growled as she stepped up to throw a kick.  Much to her dismay however, he lightly deflected by gently catching her ankle.  In a second motion, he swept out with his left leg to bring Kayura crashing hard on her right arm to the floor.  She grumbled in pain as she pushed herself up.  "Relax miss," he said coolly. "They'll be plenty of time for that."

She glared at him.

"Oh, and don't bother trying to summon any of your friends, no one can hear you as long as I'm around."  He stated placidly.

"Look you bastard," snarled Kayura as she climbed to her feet.  "I don't know what any of this is about, but I want it to end!  This is all your doing.  Take back whatever seed you've planted in me or I'm going to get rid of it myself!"

The man chuckled.  "You'll do no such thing.  He won't allow it."

"He?  He who?  Answer me!"  In her rant, the world suddenly began to spin, with the heat from her abdomen once again engulfing her.  She grabbed her head and began to stagger.  Instead of hitting the floor though, Kayura found herself in the strong arms of her intruder.  "I told you not to get so worked up."  He said softly.

"W-what do you care?  This, this was part of your plan anyway."  She replied feeling sick, dazed and disoriented.

"I have no control over your symptoms madam." The man responded as he lifted her over to her pallet.  "I observed that little vomiting episode of yours.  It must have been unpleasant."

"You're a master at understatement."  Kayura snapped.

"You don't remember my name, do you?"

She looked at him.  "No I don't.  I was too busy hating you for up heaving my life like this.  But now that you're here, maybe I can get some answers—or do you enjoy keeping me ignorant?"

"My name is Soja-no."

"And?  That doesn't tell me anything."

"All in due time."  He said moving away from her.  Kayura watched expecting him to disappear, which he didn't.  Rather, he sat down on the wooden floor not far from her.

"Well?  Why are you still here?  I figured you would want to keep stalking me."

"Don't insult me woman—I don't _stalk _anyone; I have better things to do with my time."

"Then GO ON!" She yelled.

"I don't think that would be wise."

"And why is _that_?"

"He's restless now.  You'll need someone to tend to you until it is over."

Kayura frowned.  "I suppose that must mean you.  And who is this 'he' person you keep talking about?"

"The one who lives inside of you."

He turned around and pulled a small flask from what seemed like nowhere.  "Drink this.  It will calm him."

Kayura hesitated as she took the small container from him.  "What does it taste like?"  She asked suspiciously.

"It shouldn't taste like anything.  Now drink unless you want your insides on the floor again."

Weighing her options, Kayura slowly unscrewed the cap of the flask and attentively took a sip, not once removing her eyes from the man across from her.  After ingesting the tasteless liquid, Kayura immediately felt her fever begin to lessen.

"I assume you're feeling better."

Kayura didn't respond.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

She merely sneered and looked away, unconsciously rubbing her stomach as she did.  Soja-no noticed this and sighed inwardly.  "It's almost a shame."

"Hmm?" She inquired looking back at him.

"You are most lovely for a human.  I began to realize this only after you had been selected."

"What?  Would that have swayed your decision for using me?"  Kayura said vehemently.

"Who knows?  But regardless of how I felt, nothing could have changed your candidacy in this matter.  I watched you for a long time Lady Kayura.  I had to be sure you were fit for the task, even though you were already selected.  I was actually hoping that I was incorrect."

"Well, that doesn't do me any good now."  Said Kayura turning away again.

"That's why I wanted to take care."

This drew back Kayura's gaze.

"Its is not often that I harbor good will towards humans.  This is the first time that I felt anything—especially to this extent.  I could say that you should feel lucky.  I found the time I spent with you…pleasant, and I do want to apologize."

"Apologize for what?  Taking me against my will?"

"That too."

"What else?"

He was silent.

"Tell me!"  She coxed.  After a moment he stood.

"I will continue to monitor you."  He said shortly.

"Hey, wait!"  However he was gone before Kayura could protest further.

"Damn it!"  She pouted, having more questions raised than answered.

AN:  I know, that was horrible!  But hey, the diolog's gotta be in there somewhere.  Gomen -_-


	5. I Need Duct Tape!

Greetings all!  This is the fifth edition of what is now my second posted fic.  Enjoy!

Chapter 5 

As the first month of the second trimester blurred into the next, Kayura continued to have various vomiting episodes, although none as dramatic as the first.  Anubis continued to visit her as well as the demon Soja-no; with Kayura giving Anubis the shaft as it were, and Soja-no keeping her in the dark.

About half way into the fifth month, Talpa called Kayura to his throne room.

"Kayura, what have you been doing?" The emperor asked, his voice mellow.

"I don't understand what you mean my lord."  She responded from her keeling position.

"You have not been sparing at all lately and I want to know why.  Just because you are the strongest of my vassals, it does not mean you can stray from your conditioning—you loose skill that way."

"Forgive me master Talpa," Kayura began, her face becoming hot.  "I just haven't been feeling as well as I should over the past few months.  I've had no energy to do much of anything."

"Regardless Kayura, you'll still need to train but I will be lenient.  You are to spar with one of the Warlords for the next three days—when this is done you may rest more.  Is this not reasonable?"

Kayura swallowed silently.  "No master Talpa, it is very reasonable.  I will begin right away."

"Very good.  Sekhmet and Anubis should already be in the sparing chamber."

****

Arriving in the Spar Chamber, Kayura found her two associates preparing for a match.

"Kayura, what are you doing here?  I thought you were still sick."  Sekhmet inquired looking up from his kitana.

"I am, but master Talpa says I have to get off my butt and train.  He says I only need to do it for three days, but I really don't feel up to it."

"I guess he figures you need the workout, but I don't need a sickly female as my sparing partner."  Sekhmet commented as he shined his blade.

"Whatever.  You've got Anubis here—spar with him for now and I'll go against whoever's more worn down."

"Oh brother."  Anubis mumbled.  Sekhmet rolled his eyes.

Kayura watched as Anubis faced Sekhmet with a large spear—standing at the ready, they bowed, then started to circle one another.

As they furthered their session, Kayura yawned and took a seat on the floor out of the way to take a small nap.

Twenty or so minutes had elapsed when Anubis nudged her awake. "Rise and shine, time to work—it's going to be you and me.  Get your weapons and meet me on the floor in three minutes."

Kayura looked at him then let out a sigh as she climbed to her feet.  Moments later, she was out on the floor opposite of Anubis.

"You're not going to wear that are you?"  He said motioning to her kimono.

"I most certainly am.  I told you I didn't want to do this in the first place.  Lets just get on with it so I can get out of here."

"That's very clumsy of you Kayura—you're not going to be able to move an inch with all that cloth flying everywhere." He said with a smirk.  "But have it your way—I'm not going to go easy on you."

"Who cares?  Come on!"  She huffed as she raised her Star Swords.

Anubis made the first attack.  He swung his spear around toward her ankles; in return, Kayura dodged and moved swiftly to his left.  With his weapon keeping her at a distance, Anubis moved in for a close attack.  Using the spear as a pole-vault, he used the upper part of the shaft to propel him into a flying kick.  Back on the floor with her at his flank, Anubis thrusted with the bottom of the spear at Kayura, then brought it around to strike her frontally.  Kayura threw up her swords to block.  She shoved forward fiercely to throw him off balance.  While he attempted to regain himself, she ducked down for a leg sweep.  Detecting this, Anubis tumbled backward away from her, and as she rose back up, he swung his spear out blade first and slashed completely though the belly of her garment.  Kayura leapt back horrified, dropping her right sword as she grabbed her midsection.

"GOD!  Anubis what are you DOING?"

"I'm sorry!  I thought you were going to dodge!"

"You have a spear you idiot!  As sick as I am, I'm not going to dodge a long pointed stick that's two feet away from me!"

"I'm sorry Kayura, are you alright?  Let me see that."  He asked, finally climbing to his feet.

"Uh, I'm fine—don't worry about it."  She said turning away quickly.

"Come on Kayura, I need to know if you're hurt or not, let me see the damage."  He demanded as he took her arm and whirled her around.  "What the hell?"

Kayura promptly snatched away and turned her back to him.

"Kayura what the hell was that?  Are you pregnant?!"

She said nothing.

"Kayura face me, NOW."  Anubis growled.  Slowly she turned around.  He walked up close on her.  "You are pregnant.  Kayura, what the hell?  How come you never told anyone about this?"

"Because it was nobody's business!"

"Is that right?  How long did you really think you could keep this a secret?"

"I've kept it this long haven't I?"

"That's not the point Kayura, you should have said something!"

"Why?  Its MY body, MY business!"

Anubis glared at her.  "Who's the father Kayura?"

"What the hell makes you think I'm going to tell you that?  Look Anubis—I've got to go--just shut-up for now and maybe I'll tell you more.  But _please_ keep this to yourself—for my sake?"

Anubis grunted.  "It won't be a secret for long Lady Kayura.  I bet you anything that someone else already knows."

Kayura only looked at him, then left without another word.

She removed most of her kimono in order to examine herself.  She wasn't hurt—the kimono was just slashed.  In some ways though, she wished it were more than just her clothing.  This whole pregnancy thing made her very uneasy—and the idea that someone else already knowing chilled her to the bone.  Anubis was probably right though.  She _did_ go see Badamon before she thought she might be with child.  He _must_ have known—he looked through her body.  Once again that feeling of dread found its home in the pit of her stomach.  She sighed audibly.  Why did this have to be happening to her?  What did it all mean and what was it for?  Damn that Soja-no.  Damn him to hell!

AN:  Better?  No?  I'm sorry…this is taking longer than I thought, but trust me…it WILL get better.  See ya!^^


	6. Sulk and Soak

Greetings all!  This is the sixth edition of what is now my second posted fic.  Enjoy!

(I don't own any of the characters in this fic—well, the one's that obviously aren't mine that is—one is mine though!!!) 

Chapter 6 

Later that day Kayura decided to pay Badamon another visit—she had to know for sure.  Storming into the Nether Spirit's tower, she demanded his appearance.

"Badamon, I need to see you—come out here now."

"If I were over you Kayura, I'd say your demands for audience with me were quite rude."  The Nether Spirit droned as he faded into view.

"Whatever.  Badamon, I need to know if you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Damn it Badamon, I don't toy with me.  You _know_ what I mean, just tell me so!"

The spirit smirked.  "Would this have anything to do with the life that resides in your belly Lady Kayura?"

Well, that answered her question.  Kayura scowled a bit.  "Yes."

"You'd be pleased to know Lady that I have withheld informing master Talpa of this.  No doubt he would not be pleased."

Kayura paused before she responded.  "I supposed I should be thanking you then."

"Hmm.  That is up to you.  I do not care…has someone else found out about your little…secret?"

"Anubis knows."

"Then you should put your mind at ease.  He will tell no one else.  In the meantime, I suggest you go tend to yourself and stop worrying me."  Badamon vanished before Kayura could say more.  Regardless, she left feeling more at ease than she had been in a while.  Walking back out and down the tower of the Nether Spirits, Kayura headed to her own private little building.

It was a day like any other, picturesque in its usual way.  The relative serenity of the quad made her feel better—and for once she thought she could go on without worries for at least a little while.  But of course, she'd have no such luck.  Suddenly there was a very sharp pain in her abdomen and the horribleness of it caused her to double over to the soft ground.  Immediately a strange shadow covered the quad and it became very chilly.   A vicious gale blew up from nowhere; even in her pain, Kayura looked to see why everything changed so quickly.  Black clouds of swirling thunder rolled over the sky like thick vapor of a witch's caldron.  It sheeted over the amber-colored sky for as far as the eye could see.  There was a terrible flash, and the largest lightning bolt Kayura had ever seen leapt from the black clouds and violently stuck the main tower of the castle, shattering one of it's two large needles.  The thunderclap let loose was so deafening, Kayura could hear the ringing of it in her ears.  But even through that ringing, she could hear that the storm had a sound—the sound of some ominous hungry beast.  The storm was alive it seemed—like it was breathing, thirsting for some sort of destruction.  Kayura was petrified, but what scared her most was a large swirl that was forming in the clouds about half a mile off.  Then the clouds started to retract—retract into this portal—she watched in fear and aw as the blanket of blackness that extended for miles was sucked away.  Suddenly it was gone, as quickly as it had come.  Kayura remained where she was, too stunned to move—the pain she had felt before the strange occurrence was no longer there and she was afraid once again.  She jumped to her feet and staggered as quickly as she could the refuge that was her room, hoping to escape the fear that seemed to follow her wherever she went.

Badamon creased his brow as he watched Kayura from his perch atop his tower.  He glanced once at the sky then back to her.

"Hmm."

***

Kayura sat quietly as she lay in the warm water of her bath.  In her hand she held a small mirror, glancing at it from time to time.  It had been a full seven months since the conception—seven months of hell.  The trial of just carrying the baby was taking its toll.  This child, or whatever it was, seemed to enjoy making life miserable for her.  As of late Kayura would be kept awake by horrible dreams of death and destruction, no doubt brought on by the hellish fetus.  And when she wasn't being tortured in her sleep, she was reamed while awake.  The countless scars and abrasions that flawed her alabaster skin were testament of that.  Mysterious sores that refused to heal would crop up on her back and stomach; this along with aches, pains and discomforts of all sorts.  Fever and fatigue sapped her strength continuously and she could never keep anything down.  It was a miracle that she was still up and about half the time.

She avoided everyone, although Anubis was harder to skirt than others.  Anubis, on her behalf, had managed to convince the Emperor that she was too ill for anything, thus allowing her to remain undisturbed.  She was thankful for that, as much as she disliked showing it.  Soja-no wasn't of much help.  He would give her tonics from time to time—but had said that as the pregnancy progressed, little could be done to console the restless beast that ripened within her—a beast that would often let itself be known.  Kayura had long been convinced that the creature had some type of telekinetic ability, an ability that had few bounds.  Violent disturbances in the sky occurred more frequently and with greater strength.  It projected its demonic wrath on others as well—there had been instances when things from animals to foot soldiers would be found horribly mangled and disfigured.  There was even an incident where Dais was the victim of a mysterious infestation of gnats, flies and maggots erupting from one of his clothing drawers.

And it all scared her.  It scared her because she knew it was her fault--the bizarre happenings and all of her own personal suffering.  She recalled a time when she was threatening to Soja-no that she would carve the creature out of her belly if the madness didn't stop.  He would only laugh at her and once again say that she couldn't do anything if she tried.  Kayura cried after that and belted that he had no idea how miserable she was and how he could never understand.  At that point he wouldn't say much of anything—he would mostly just leave when she became exceptionally emotional.  Kayura had since figured though that he didn't care, but it hurt most when he ignored her obvious pain, especially for the fact that he knew so much.

It was as if her immediate life was caving in on itself.  The physical and emotional strain that was being placed on her daily was becoming too much.  Kayura would often become angry with herself and her faltering ability to cope with the changes.  Granted they were unusual changes, she would reassure, but pessimism always seemed to win out.  Every time she would try and find a silver lining, something horrible would happen and reassert the fact that this agony would be far from over.

She frowned inwardly.  'I refuse to cry.'  Kayura told herself.  But her determination wasn't what it used to be, tears begin to slide down her face.  She wiped them away angrily, making a decision as she did.  Revelation had come at lightning speed.  

Pride and fear kept her from seeking help.  Pride because as a woman in the proverbial  'man's world', she had to keep face; and fear for the mere fact that she _was_ a woman.  But Kayura could only take so much, and her breaking point was near.  Pride now was a luxury she could no longer afford.  It was time to take the hand that had been patiently waiting for her.


	7. All Ears and Mouth

Greetings all!  This is the seventh edition of what is now my second posted fic.  Enjoy!

(I don't own any of the characters in this fic—well, the one's that obviously aren't mine that is—one is mine though!!!) 

Chapter 7 

Anubis had been sipping tea while looking over papers when the knock came.  It was so soft it nearly escaped detection—it came again before he realized what it was.  Standing, he strolled to the door and slid it open.

"Kayura?  It's late—is there something the matter?"  He asked noting her look of dejection.

"I don't know—I guess, everything else has been."  Kayura commented as she walked passed him.  He motioned to his small table as he closed the door.  Taking a seat, she folded her arms on the low rising piece of furniture.

"Would you like some tea?"  He offered.

"Yeah, sure."

After pouring her tea, he poured himself another cup, sitting at the same time.  "Alright Kayura, there must be something on your mind for you to call at this hour—lets have it."

She paused for a long moment before beginning.  "Well, I um—I don't know really…I've just been worried a lot and I—I just feel like I need to tell someone before it completely eats me up inside."

"Its all right Kayura, I'm listening."

Kayura nodded before letting out a sigh.  "I didn't want to admit this," she began, "but I'm really scared."

"Well, I guess I can understand where you're coming from--"

"I haven't even said anything yet!"  Kayura quickly interjected.

"Well, it's obviously about the kid--and you just said you were scared…"

"Yes, but the idea of having _a _child doesn't bother me Anubis, it's _this_ child.  I mean, it's just been so crazy I don't know where to begin!"

"How about the beginning?"

Kayura glared at him—Anubis simply smiled.  "Fine.  But first I want to say that I think whatever is growing inside of me—is, is dangerous."

"Dangerous?  How so?"

"Would you let me finish?"  Kayura snapped.

"Sorry."

"Like I was saying, I think the child is dangerous because—god this is going to sound weird—it might be a demon."

Anubis' eyebrows arched immediately.  "Yeah, I figured that would be your response," said Kayura, "but just listen.  Seven months ago I had this dream, at least I thought it was.  I 'dreamt' that I had been kidnapped by this man—who really was a demon.  He took me to this place and well—f-forced himself on me.  I wake up to find myself in my room—cause like I said, I thought I was dreaming.  And as it turns out—obviously I wasn't, because a few days later, I found out that I was with child—and as time passed, all this weird stuff started to happen…are you following any of this?"

Anubis wiped the dazed look from his face.  "I'm sorry Lady Kayura, but this story is kind of hard to swallow.  You say you were taken against your will by a demon, forced to have sex with it, and now you've become pregnant with its child, and because its part demon, its what has been causing all the incidents in and around the Dynasty?"

"Yes, and the thing is, I don't even think that it's _his_."

He looked at her and started to laugh.  "Wow Kayura, that sounds like something out of a fiction novel, _and_ it's not his? Ha!"

"Its not fiction Anubis, I'm telling the truth here!"

"I'm sorry to laugh Kayura, but it just sounds so unrealistic.  If you say that the demon had sex with you, who else's offspring could it be?"  She looked down at the fists clinched in her lap.  "He wouldn't tell me."

"Who?"  Anubis asked, his amused look fading.

"Soja-no."

"Who is that?"

"The demon.  He would always refer to the child as 'he' and 'him', as if this person or whatever had been in existence before, and the reason why all these strange happenings have been occurring is because 'he' was restless."

"The fetus?"  Anubis confirmed with a slight hand gesture.

"Yes Anubis!  Look, if you're going to keep treating me like I'm crazy then I'm going to leave—I'm trying to tell you what happened to me; this could be bad for the whole Nether Realm!"

"Ok Kayura fine, I'll take it for what its worth.  Now I assume that this creature or whatever isn't friendly."

"Tisss. What do you think?" Kayura returned with an exaggerated expression.

Anubis gave a raspberry.  "Well I guess it's in the right place isn't it?"

 "Anubis I don't think you're getting this.  Look at me!"  Kayura, suddenly riled, exclaimed as she snatched open her kimono—unconcerned with revealing her body to him.  Anubis' brow twisted into worry.  "Kayura, what are all these sores on you?"  He said moving in to examine.

"It's the child I tell you.  My back is just as bad—I keep a fever and I'm always ill.  Whatever this thing is, it's getting stronger—who knows what it'll do when it finally comes out!  I am _scared_ Anubis.  Never in my life have I been so afraid of something—this thing could kill me for all it cares!"  She ranted as she pulled her kimono about her.

"Then why didn't you abort it?"

"Because I couldn't.  Trust me, I've thought about it many times—it won't let me do it."

"Are you saying the child won't let you?  That's not possible."

"For this thing it is.  The moment I would even fathom harming it—it would cause _me _some kind of pain.  Why do you think I have so many of these sores?"

Anubis sat back.  "You need to tell master Talpa or at least Badamon about this, this is getting bad Kayura, you can't keep it under raps any longer."

"I've already told Badamon—he's known that I've been pregnant from the beginning."

"He has?  Then why hasn't done anything about it?"

"Because he doesn't know that it's a demon!"

"Kayura, this is ridiculous--"

"I know you want me to tell master Talpa, but he can't know just yet—I have to wait, maybe I can do something before it gets to that."

Anubis frowned.  "Kayura, if you could only hear yourself; it sounds to me that you're out of options and you're hoping for a break you're not going to get…it isn't good keeping this from him, he'll be angrier that you didn't say something before."

"Anubis, please!"  Kayura whaled as she put her head in her hands.  "I just want you to know ok?  I'm trapped don't you see?  Whether he knows now or later won't change the fact that I'll have to wait.  I'm at my wit's end, and I need someone to listen."

Anubis grunted.  "Kayura, you don't know what you're asking of me.  I wasn't going to say anything initially because one, it wasn't my place, and two, because you asked; then again, I thought you were just being careless with yourself—this is on a completely different level—its a secret better left un-kept." He sighed.  "I'm probably sealing my own fate when I say this, but all right--my lips are sealed.  Just know Kayura that if anything happens, I'll deny everything and it'll be all on you."

Kayura hung her head.  "Fine, thank you."

"You shouldn't."  Anubis replied.

****

It was now the ninth month, and strangely the disturbances had ceased.  Kayura assumed the worst in that the creature was saving its strength.  Soja-no had appeared to her roughly a week before saying to 'be ready.'  From that point on Kayura was sick with fear—she didn't know what to expect other than pain and the possibility of death.  Kayura fought with herself constantly over wither she should reveal the truth to Talpa.  'What do I have to loose?' Is what she would ask herself—'everything'.  She gently rubbed her hand over her belly.  "Who are you?  What do you mean to do?  Why do you hurt me so?"  Kayura asked her swollen stomach.  An angry gurgle was her only response.  In turn Kayura began to weep, if anyone could see her now, they would never have thought her a warrior of the Evil Dynasty.

There was a knock on her door.  "Who is it?"  She called, masking the tears in her voice.  "Kayura, its Anubis.  Badamon would like to see you."  Oh god, what did he want?  "Can't it wait?" She called back.  "He said it was urgent, so I guess that means now."  Kayura sighed.  "Alright, I'll be there in a moment."

****

"What do you want Badamon, I'm very tired."

The head spirit floated down from the rafters to face her.  "Kayura," he began.  "I've been tracking your soul energy for the past few months, and I do not like what I see."

"For how long?"  She grumbled.

"Since that first disturbance in the sky."

Her anger bubbled to the surface.  "Oh is that right?  Then I suppose you have been observing the horrible pain I've been subjected to—the scars and the nightmares, my suffering right before an incident would occur?"

"Yes."

"If so, then why the hell haven't you been doing anything?  I die a little bit every day because of this thing and all you do is watch?  I know you could care less, but my god!"

"I am trying to find out what it is Kayura—I can't do that if the subject I'm studying is aware of me."

"Then you must know that--"

"That the creature is demonic?  Yes, I had that figured the day of the first storm."

"Well?  What did you find?  Tell me please!"

He looked at her for a long while before answering.  "It's a power unlike any I've ever seen.  It's intentions are grave, and it means to do ill.  Kayura, I know that you have had contact with a similar power—tell me what it is."

"You mean Soja-no?"

"If that is the other power's name."

"I'm sorry Badamon, I don't know anything."

"Well FIND OUT."  The spirit bellowed.  "This is a very serious situation Lady Kayura, and you can easily be blamed for the entire thing.  To avoid such a label, I suggest you move swiftly.  If you want me to uncover more, you will have to be of assistance.  The birth is near--we have no more time.  I will inform master Talpa, but not now.  I will only approach him when I have sufficient information.  You are key, go now."

"Y-yes, I'll try."


	8. Rosekayura's Baby

Greetings all!  Yes, after being missing in action for like two months, I've finally got the next chapter up.  It shouldn't take too long to get another chapter up after this—but any subsequent chapters will be…uh…temporarily postponed till I finish studying and taking all my tests.  Without too much more delay--the eighth edition of what is now my third posted fic.  Enjoy!

(I don't own any of the characters in this fic—well, the one's that obviously aren't mine that is—one is mine though!!!) 

Chapter 8 

She would have to get in touch with Soja-no, but how?  He came and went as he pleased…but then again, he would have great reason to make himself available now.  How she wished that he would just--.  "Lady."

"Ahh!!!"  Kayura shirked as the sudden voice conveniently filled her empty room.  "Soja-no!"

"Yes, that's right.  Soon Lady Kayura."

"Yes I'm aware of that, but Soja-no, you must tell me what you know." 

"I've debated with that possibility for a while now—I'm still undecided." 

"Soja-no please!"  Kayura's voice came in a hurry.

"…My master."  Soja-no stated after a pause.

"What?"

He chuckled.  "Kayura, your Emperor and my Overlord want the same thing; territory and power.  Power he has, but he seeks the most fertile land of all dimensions—Earth."

"And?"

"My master had long sought to bring Earth under his control, but up until now was unable to achieve it because of one thing—the realm of Earth is protected."

"Well if it is, then why is he trying to go after it now?"

"Because it is now within his power.  You see, our dimension is incapable of linking with Earth's, but yours is."

"The Nether Realm?"

"Exactly.  If the Grand Overlord can conquer this dimension and merge it with our own, it will be a simple matter acquiring Earth—two birds with one stone, if you will."

"So you're going to go through us to get to them?  What does this have to do with me?"

"The Overlord cannot enter another dimension on his own—he must be 'planted'."

Kayura rocked back, her face expressionless from realization.  "So your Overlord had to be reborn—why me though?"

"You were the only one in this dimension who was properly…equipped."

"_Equipped_?" She fumed, suddenly offended.  "How dare you defile my womanhood for this!  I will not play an active roll in the downfall of the empire I'm sworn to serve!"

"Its too late Kayura, once it was set in motion, there was nothing that you could do.  That fact still hasn't changed."

Suddenly Kayura began to lurch, she hunched over and grabbed her stomach reeling with pain.  "It's starting."  Soja-no announced as she continued to sink further to the ground.  "Soon my master will overrun this plain and begin to merge it with our own—when that is done, victory will be his." 

"N-nooo."  Kayura gurgled as she slumped onto her back.  "I'll leave you now—good luck."  Soja-no sneered as he left.

Kayura clutched her stomach as an agony unlike anything she ever knew before tore though her slight frame.  A pain filled growl rumbled in her throat as her insides seemed to rip apart.  After enduring a second of this, Kayura could feel moisture underneath her.  She opened her eyes to find herself in a pool of black inky liquid.  "Oh my god!"  She whispered, unable to raise her voice any higher.  She would have fainted from agony if she weren't so terrified of what spewed forth from between her legs.

The large blob of black liquid moved before Kayura could see it take shape.  An arm formed from the mass of fluid nothing and swiftly took her by the cheeks of her face.  She was jerked forward to watch a head take shape.  _"Hello mother,"_ the hollow, fluctuating voice hissed out.  _"Thank you for bringing me into your world, I will do well with it."_  It laughed sadistically before rising up to hurtle through the wood panels of her ceiling.  No sooner had it left did Badamon and a throng of his Nether Spirits appear.

"Kayura!"  He called to the pale faced, wide-eyed girl.

"B-badamon it was _horrible_!  It's gunna take over the Nether Realm so it can gain control of Earth!  We've got to stop it now!"  Whaled Kayura as she shook in her place on the floor.

"Spirits, tend to her, I must tell master Talpa at once!"

The Warlords of the Evil Dynasty bowed to their master.  His plan to begin the first invasion of the Mortal World would soon be underway.

"The first thing will be the establishment of a mirror castle in their world.  I have decided to place it over a major city in the country of Japan--"

"EMPEROR TALPA!" Came the panicked voice of the chief Nether Spirit.  The Warlords spun around quickly.

"Badamon!  What is the meaning of this hysterical intrusion?"  Talpa boomed angrily.

"Master, forgive me, but we are in great danger!  A demonic creature with unfathomable powers has made its way into the Nether Realm and means to destroy us!"

"What?  Impossible!"

"It is upon us as we speak!"

Anubis frowned immediately  "…Kayura…what about Kayura?  Is she all right?"  He asked worriedly.

"She is fine Anubis, but master, you must call our forces to arms now or we'll have no chance!  I shall amass my spirits to try and belay the creature—hurry master!"

Dais turned to Talpa.  "Master, what is the meaning of this?"

"I do not know, but if it is enough to alarm Badamon, it should not be taken lightly.  Arm yourselves quickly and fight if you must—I will tolerate no more surprises!"

Anubis' feet thudded noisily against the hard wood as he hurried towards Kayura's chamber.

'Damn it Kayura, I _knew_ something like this was going to happen!'  He thought as he approached her door.  Racing though it, he found Kayura struggling to her feet in the puddle of black goo that surrounded her.

"Kayura!" He said as he pulled her to her feet and out of the pool.  "Kayura!  Kayura what has happened?  Tell me now!"  For a few moments nothing intelligible came from her.  "Kayura!"  Anubis practically yelled while giving her a slight shake.

"He, he…it…" Came her erratic response.  "Kayura, Kayura look at me."  He said holding Kayura's flushed face firmly.  "Are you ok?  Can you hear me?  Are you all right?  Are you hurt?"

"Ughnn."

"Come on Kayura talk to me!  You've got to tell me what's going on—try!"

Kayura finally locked her glassed and clouded eyes onto Anubis'.  It was hard to focus on anything.  She knew she had to tell him, but in her shock the words refused to come.  She continued to stare at him.

"Kayura?"  Anubis asked her quietly while looking into her almost vacant eyes.

"A-Anubis. Its an—an—he's trying to—he's going to attack."

"We know that Kayura, Talpa is mobilizing now.  What else can you tell me?  What is this thing?"

"It's uh, it's uh, a thing—its not like anything—its just this black thing that went through the cracks of the ceiling—its going to take over the whole Nether Realm so it can conquer Earth!"  She said trembling.

"My god—how can we fight it Kayura?  Do you know?"  She shook her head earnestly.  Anubis sighed loudly and frowned.  "Kayura—I have to go and see if I can help.  Will you be all right on your own?"

"Yes—I'm sorry."

"…Its ok Kayura.  Be safe—we'll need you."  With that, Anubis morphed into his Cruelty armor and departed—leaving Kayura shaking, afraid and alone.  She grabbed her arms and held them tightly.  'I must be in shock.' She thought bitterly.  'I can't seem to function—but I have too!'  Kayura slumped to her knees, tears finally coming.

"Help us," she whimpered. "Help us please."


	9. Pompus Jerk!

Greetings all!  Yes, after being missing in action for like the whole freggin summer, I've finally got the next chapter up.  After this I have NO IDEA how long its gunna take me to get any others up*sigh* I've just been lazy and there's no way to escape it, outside of lots of good reviews^^.  Plus with school starting in another week…(sighs again).  Well, without too much more delay--the ninth edition of what is my second posted fic.  (Yeah I removed one of them)  Enjoy!

(I don't own any of the characters in this fic—well, the one's that obviously aren't mine that is) 

Chapter 9 

When Anubis rejoined the other Warlords, he found them, and countless thousands of foot soldiers staring up into the sky.  Confused, he followed their gaze.  The black clouds of so many atmospheric disturbances had returned with a chilling entrance.  The clouds seemed to bubble out of an inverted hole in the sky—purple lighting fizzling about as the inky blackness spread over the firmament.  All the natural light was washed away as the darkness spread.  After only a few moments, the heavens were covered and slowly a black abyss opened up in the clouds, hovering above the entire Dynasty complex.  Flocks of Nether Spirits could be seen flying just below it without form or direction.

"My god what now?" Cale breathed to himself.

"WARRIORS!"  Talpa's voice suddenly boomed, breaking the uneasy silence that gripped the masses. All present turned to face him.

"I know not what this monstrosity is, but I've been informed that it is here to destroy us.  Whatever happens, you are to fight to the last, no matter the cost!"

"But master Talpa!"  Sekhmet's voice rang out after he had finished.  "Where is this alleged enemy?"

_"I am here!"_  Thundered an invisible voice from the heavens.  All heads shot up to the blackness.  Suddenly a great wind blew up from nowhere, causing all but Talpa to shield their face.

"Who are you!"  Talpa roared over the windy tempest.  "How _dare_ you intrude in my Nether Realm with means to conquer it?  Show yourself you coward and face me!"

_"You are a fool, Emperor Talpa."_ The voice that came from everywhere said mockingly.  _"I shall have this world, and the world you seek as well--you cannot stop me.  My power is beyond yours in ways that your pitiful little mind cannot imagine.  You have NOT suffered as you should have and you are unworthy.  You yourself will call me master—and those who serve you shall reel for all eternity inside the belly of my evil.  Do you dare contest me?  By all means try—I will take great pleasure in breaking you Talpa—it will be amusing.  So let you and your forces prepare—your devastation is near."_

With out warning, a gigantic blast of energy exploded from the sky and found home in the thick of the Nether Soldiers, incinerating thousands of them.  In the second that followed, the void above the Dynasty belched volley after volley of lightning-like blasts over everything, causing mass destruction everywhere.

"This is madness!  How are we supposed to fight what we can't even touch!!"  Sekhmet screamed over the chaos.

"Master Talpa what shall we do?  Tell us something, anything!"  Dais bellowed as loud as he could.  But Talpa had no answers; he had no time to think of answers.  His complex was being demolished around him as he struggled to maintain his balance on the trembling ground.   "NETHER SPIRITS HALT THE LIGHTNING ATTACKS!" He howled.  Badamon however, was already in position.  He had managed to organize enough Nether Spirits to create shields over important targets on the ground; namely the palace and numerous armories.  Once the barriers were in place, Badamon flew down to Talpa's side.

"Master Talpa, we are doing the best that we can.  I fear that the opposition is mostly supernatural—only the Nether Spirits will be able to fight."

"Are you saying to me that half of the most powerful army in this dimension is completely useless against this thing!"

"It looks to be that way master; the Nether Spirits are the only ones who can put forth any real effort—and we alone are hopelessly inadequate against this type of bombardment.  Too much more of this and we'll be finished in a matter of hours."  The chief spirit stated matter-of-factly, his alarm well hidden.

"Shut-up Badamon, I'll hear no talk of failure.  I want you to direct all the power you can to those shields you have created—I refuse to be wiped out without a fight!"

"But master--"

"NOW WHAT?"

"All of our strength _is_ in the shields!  The last formidable power source for this undertaking is _you_ Emperor!" 

Talpa glared at his sorcerer silently, unease creeping over him.  Badamon shrugged his shoulders pitifully under the emperor's masked stone gaze.

"…Very well."  Talpa whispered with a certain level of resolve.  He looked up into the violent sky until his eyes glowed red.  Calling on the dark powers within him, he swelled to his colossus state and began to draw on what was left of his Nether Spirits' strength.  A sphere of thin mist surrounded Talpa as Nether Spirits took positions of higher altitude about him.  The barriers that protected the Dynasty began to glow brighter with the increased flow of power.

Suddenly there came a low reverberating chuckle.  _"Try as you might emperor, if it will allay the aguish of your futility.  Watch as I slowly take your world from you…"_

With these words, the darkness of the sky seemed to collapse onto the land like a vile froth, rolling over everything in its path.

"You…will…not…" Talpa growled as he tapped another reservoir of power.  The hundreds of Nether Spirits around him pulsed like beacons of light as a swirl of energy pushed out from the emperor and formed a circular wall to dam in the sea of blackness that threatened to drown the Nether Realm.

Not far from this, Kayura stood on her outside balcony, screaming at the top of her lungs for Soja-no.  She bellowed till she was nearly hoarse.  "Soja-no!  Soja-no where are you?  Answer me!"

"That is an excellent way to ruin your voice my lady."

Kayura turned around fast to see Soja-no standing with arms folded on the edge of the roof above her.

Kayura took a breath. "Soja--" Her raw voice hitched.  She cleared her throat and tried again.  "Soja-no, you have to stop this, I know you have the power!  What good will the Nether Realm serve if it is destroyed?"

"Lady Kayura, when will you understand that it is not in my hands?  It never was.  And as for the Nether Realm, we've already discussed this—the Nether Realm will be absorbed into our own, thus allowing for us to invade the Mortal World as we so choose.  If the Overlord wants to obliterate your precious civilization in the process, that is purely his prerogative."

"What do you mean it was never in your hands?  The day you infected me with that _disease_ it was in your hands, literally!  That black ball was the seed you planted in me.  Nothing could have stopped you from not going through with that."

"You are very right Kayura, nothing could have, but I had my reasons…after all, he is my master—it was by his order, and I would not dare to disobey that order."

Kayura glared at him.  "So you're saying you'll do nothing?"

Soja-no looked at Kayura, then to the shining wall off in the distance.  He spoke quietly.  "…Your emperor tries so very hard, doesn't he?"

"What was that?"  Kayura demanded.  Soja-no looked back to her.

" I said your emperor—he tries so very hard, doesn't he?"

"Of course," she spat, "He's trying to save what took so long for him to build.  If you were him, would you stand by and let your empire be conquered without a fight?"

"I am not at issue here--"

"YES YOU ARE!"  Kayura angrily intruded.  "I have been made an instrument of destruction for you!  You've forced me against my will to bring the downfall of everything I know!  You had the power to prevent this, but you didn't!  You much rather prefer I suffer, knowing that I was powerless to do anything about it!  But you don't care about that do you?  All you want to do is--"

"IS WHAT?"  Soja-no snapped.  "I was given a mission and I followed through…if your master had given you a task, would you not do everything in your power to fulfill it?"

"This isn't about me, this is about that thing that is going to destroy us!"

"Answer the question."

Kayura gave an indignant snort before complying with the blatant change of subject."…It depends.  If I knew I had the opportunity to change the course of my life for the better, I would have gladly taken it.  And, Soja-no, if my assumption is correct—was that black seed not the entire embodiment of your Overlord?"

Soja-no was silent, frowning at how quickly she put this back on him.  "Yes."

"And if I am reading into this correctly, how things work in your world could not possibly be that much different than in my own.  You have an absolute ruler whose power goes unchallenged, and then by luck, a day comes when that ruler trusts you with their complete and utter vulnerability.  You cannot say that you could have not been tempted by such a call to power."

He looked at her long and hard, then smiled.  "Bravo Kayura, you've finally managed to call my bluff.  You see milady, _of course_ I considered these things…do you take me for some kind of dolt?  I new exactly what I was doing when I planted the seed of the Overlord within you.  Yes, I admit that I had a great advantage over my master then, but I by no means was stronger…he would have easily killed me, or worse let me live, if you get my meaning.  The way I see it, our lands are bountiful enough, and the need for the Mortal World is unnecessary.  If it were up to me milady, I would have never come here.  But now it is high time that I put my plan into effect."

"…What plan is that?"

"You said you wanted this to be over correct?  Well…let me tell you.  First of all, I want you to know that I had long since planned to take the seat of power in my dimension.  I, as well a certain others, had figured that our current Overlord was no longer fit to rule.  Keeping his greed in mind…I carefully thought of how I could use that weakness of his in my favor, but more of that later.  I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in the Dynasty or the Mortal World; furthermore…if the Overlord is killed, we can never, as a collective power, enter either plain again."

Kayura arch an unconvinced eyebrow.  "Never again?  Pretty words Soja-no, but its obvious though that you don't have that type of power, what good will that do us?"

"Like I said, it is a simple matter of exterminating the Overlord.  With him out of the way, I can take his place and let you be."

"Extermination?  Well what are you waiting for, tell me!  I've got to know so we can stop this thing before its too late!"

With this, Soja-no's eyes seemed to darken, but not ominously.  "Kayura, the creature spawned from you is directly connected with your life.  The only way that it can die from this juncture is if you were to die yourself."

The color drained from Kayura's face.

"But, I must say it's not as simple as a knife to your throat.  It is a complicated matter that involves the construction of a special altar…"

Hot tears glazed Kayura's eyes as she stared at him.  "How, how can you look at me and say these things so _calmly_?  Surely there must be another way!"

"There is none."

"No…NO!  No!  You lie and I won't hear it!"  She refuted.

"Milady, I have no more cause for false pretenses.  What I speak is the truth.  An altar must be constructed for a special sacrificial ritual.  The wisest and most powerful conjurors in our dimension convened for many nights on how this could be realistically executed."

"And killing the _'host'_ was the best you could come up with?"

"I'm sorry lady Kayura, but it really is the only way."

"Shut your mouth!  I will not stand here and be condemned in this way…come down here now and face me Soja-no!  That is the _least_ you can do!"  Kayura croaked, trying to maintain some degree of composure.  Soja-no leapt down from his perch as requested.  He stood in front of Kayura, whom had to look up to meet his eye.  He could see the tears fall clearly now, he swallowed inwardly.  "Kayura, no matter how hurt you look, it won't change what will happen if you choose to do this."

She was taken back by this statement. 

"Choose to do what?"  Kayura narrowed her eyes as she backed away from him, shaking her head slowly.  "My god you _are_ evil…you _knew_ this would happen, and I would want to stop the Overlord from taking over.  I can't believe I'm being manipulated like this. Why are you doing this to me?"  Kayura questioned lowly, a shocked and dead anger settling in the bottom of her.

"Yes Kayura, I knew this moment would come…but I didn't expect this."

"What?"  The word barely falling from her lips.

"…This feeling I get inside of myself…I don't like it, and I know what it is."

"Humph, I hope it's the guilt twisting inside of you."  Kayura suddenly seethed, her tears becoming angry.

"I won't say it's twisting, but it is there, like a cold ball of steel.  Yes I used you Kayura.  I used your body, and your loyalty as a catalyst to fuel our change.  I admit that I wouldn't have cared if I did not have to watch your grim, predetermined fate unfurl before my very eyes.  But Kayura, if you do this, you will be saving not just the Dynasty, but the Earth as well."

Kayura averted her eyes.  "I know…but Soja-no…you _forced_ this on me."

"I'm sorry."  She ignored his apology with an angry frown before wiping her face with the sleeve of her kimono.

"You say an altar must be built.  Will you help me, or must I do that myself as well?"  She muttered dryly.

"I will assist you Kayura."


	10. Say it Ain't So!

Greetings all!  Well, it would appear that I've gotten this chapter up faster than I thought.  It was a well earned chapter though seeing as that I sacked a whole night of sleep for it…I guess I just wanted to get as much up before school started as I could.  Oh, and I would like to thank maryd and Harry2 for their faithful reviews along with everybody else's thus far.  Well, without too much more delay--the tenth edition of what is my second posted fic.  Enjoy!

(I don't own any of the characters in this fic—well, the one's that obviously aren't mine that is)

Chapter 10 

Now far from the ensuing mayhem, Kayura and Soja-no found themselves in a deserted block of the Dynasty complex.  The only building there was a small, dilapidated temple.  She stopped several paces ahead, not wishing to be near him… 

"Well, we're here.  What now?"  Asked Kayura, her voice both hard and deadpan.

"The ground must be marked." Soja-no replied.

"Do it then." She returned, an edge in the words she threw over her shoulder.  Despite the simplicity of the statement, the phrase cut Soja-no more than he had wished it to.  He stared for a moment at the raven locks that flowed down the woman's back before responding. "Very well."

He stepped away into the middle of the clearing.  After feeling he found it's center, he reached into his robes and pulled from them a small, black velvet pouch.  Pulling it open, he quickly examined its contents.  Inside was fine red sand.  He pinched some of it between his fingers, frowning to himself as he let fall back into the bag.

'This had better work…'

Soja-no then tipped the small pouch to let the sand pour forth.  He turned clockwise until he created a small circle around himself.  Kayura watched quietly with disinterest.  With all the crimson sand expelled, he closed back the pouch and returned it to his robes.  Stealing a glance at Kayura, Soja-no took a deep breath and closed his eyes.  He tilted his head upward and the circle of sand roared into a funnel around him that swept outward furiously.  Kayura quickly covered her face as the incredibly powerful gust blew past her, bringing with it the dirt and dust from the ground that pelted her exposed arms.

After the miniature dust storm had ceased, Kayura slowly lowered her arms.  Before her now was a large, raised stone cartouche.  She walked to its edge, which was shin-high, and looked over its rough finish.  It was separated into sixteen sections, which in turn was cut into three rows.  Each curved square had its own raised symbol.  She looked up to see Soja-no standing in the center hugging his arms.  Suddenly he twisted up from the ground on what looked to be a stone pillar.  The pillar stopped when it was about a foot and a half up from the cartouche's surface.  Finally opening his eyes, he jumped down and walked to her.  He leaned slightly and extended his hand.  She looked to him, then his offered hand, a deep frown coming to her face.  With an angry huff, she raised her kimono and pulled herself onto the cartouche.  Kayura straightened then stared at him.

Soja-no supposed he deserved that.

Pushing back any pending thoughts of regret, he ordered her to strip naked.

"I will not!"  Kayura retorted.  "It's not enough that I must sacrifice myself, but I must humiliate myself as well?"

"Humiliate yourself in front of who?  It's not like you have an audience."  Soja-no shrugged.

"I am not going to do that!  I reveal myself willingly to NO man!"  Kayura seethed.  Soja-no was beginning to loose patience.

"Kayura, this is not a matter up for debate.  You will remove your clothing yourself, or I will _rip_ it off of you.  I must mark your body so the necessary magic can find its medium."

Kayura flinched.  She was sure by now that Soja-no made good on his intentions.  If he were to tear her kimono off of her, she really would be humiliated.

"I just can't have any dignity can I?"  She ground out miserably.  Slowly she brought her hands up to the many layers of fabric.  Piece by piece she removed them until the last layer was all that remained.  She looked down, her face glued to the stone beneath her feet.

'I can't do this…' she thought.

"Come along now, we don't have much time."  Said Soja-no, his impatience evident.

'He's so _cold_.'

Soja-no began to reach for her garment after she hadn't. 

"OK!"

"Then hurry up!"  He barked.

The only thing that held the thin material closed was a loosely tied sash.  She pulled it gently and let it fall way.  Her face became hot as she held the last piece of clothing on her.  Kayura felt tears washing in her eyes, tears of utter and complete humiliation.  This was worse than having an audience.  At least with that, bravery could have come easer to her.  Yet the weight of just a single pair of eyes was enough to crush her composer.  Kayura hung her head in shame and began to sob—life was just too cruel.

"Kayura really, the tears _aren't_ necessary.  They are not going to save you from your fate." Said Soja-no.  This only elected harder sobs from the girl.

With a hiss of annoyance, he whirled her around and yanked the fabric from her hunched shoulders.

"Y-you just don't understand!  You'll never be able to understand this!  You just DON'T CARE!"  Kayura screamed between sobs that were now uncontrollable, her body bent slightly as each one shook her frame.

Soja-no tried to stay as emotionally detached from the situation as he possibly could, but was not having much success.  Although he would dare never to admit it, he _did_ care.  It was not in his nature to be that heartless a bastard.  He had always been trained not to let his emotions interfere his work, but when you were this close to such a sensitive assignment, it was incredibly difficult _not_ to feel anything.  However at the moment, time was of the essence--he would have to wage this battle with himself later.  Soja-no whipped out what appeared to be a stick of black chalk.  He began to scrawl symbols, much like on the cartouche, onto Kayura's back.

"Would you bone up for a second so I can write this legibly?"  He growled.

Kayura had somehow managed to comply by bringing her sobs down to a whimper.  He turned her around to face him.  "Drop your arms so I can finish this—and stand up straight!"  Doing as she was told, Soja-no continued to write the foreign scripts on her chest.

'Please, for all this I'm going through, just let it be worth it.' Kayura begged inside of her mind.

After a few more symbols were drawn, he backed away to admire his work.  "Alright, that's good enough.  Now, are your tears done, or must I be forced to endure more of that hideousness?"

With that, Kayura was prepared to scream her lungs out at him, but the look in his eyes made her stop.  As icy and aloof as Soja-no sounded, his eyes told her otherwise.  Curious to know more, but oddly satisfied, she answered him.  "Yes, I suppose they are, despite the fact that my death awaits me on that alter."

"Fine then, go kneel upon it."

Turning to the pillar, a sudden dread crept over her.   But in lieu of her fear, she strolled up to the structure and made her way to the top of it.  Soja-no followed her to the base.  Upon reaching it, he held out his hand—a dark porcelain cup forming in it.

"Drink this."  He ordered, handing the cup to her.  Kayura took it without complaint.  Looking into the cup, she noted the deep red liquid.  Subduing the question that played on her tongue, she placed the cup to her lips and drank.  The fluid had a metallic taste, much like blood.

"I know this is an irrelevant question," she began, "…but what was this?"

"Essence of the Grand Overlord, mixed with your own blood and other herbs."

"My--?  But how?"

"I took it from you the day we first met."

"Oh." 

"Give it back to me."  Said Soja-no reaching for the cup.  Once back in his possession, Soja-no tipped the cup and let the liquid pour into the crevices that separated the symbols on the cartouche.

"…How is that possible?  I drank everything from the cup!"  Kayura asked with a degree of surprise.  Don't question how these things work was all that he stated.  However, Kayura continued to watch with aw as the little cup continued to pour its contents long after it _should have_ been empty.  When the liquid had housed itself in every crevice, Soja-no looked to her.

"Are you ready?"

Kayura only lowered her head in response.  What did it matter?  It was obviously too late to turn back now.

With one last look, Soja-no walked off of the altar, letting the cup disappear.  He raised his hands for a moment, then brought them down across his chest.  With this, he began to say allowed some sort of ancient incantation.  His words echoed hollowly around her as another gust of wind picked up.  Suddenly her stomach began to hurt.  His words must have been activating the concoction she had ingested.  If this worked, not only would the Dynasty and the Mortal World be saved from this 'Grand Overlord', Soja-no would have his throne and no one from his world would never be able to return.  Everyone would be happy—except for Kayura—who'd be dead.  But in light of all that had to be gained, she figured it be a small price to pay.  But still it was frightening.  She was about to _die_, and there was nothing she was able to do about it.  Up until now, Kayura was unafraid of death—she never even had to consider it.  But now that it was upon her, it brought to life in her a dormant, instinctive fear.  She would have wept at this point, but had decided that she had shed enough tears.  If she had to die, she wasn't going out like some pathetic blubbering damsel in distress.

As Soja-no furthered his ritual, the symbols on the cartouche began to glow, and the liquid from the crevices began to rise up and circle about her.  It began to spin faster and faster, closing in on her body with every second.  Soon she could feel the warm liquid flow over her body.  At this point Kayura didn't know what to expect, she only figured now, with Soja-no's chant becoming feverish, that it was almost over.  She squeezed her eyes shut when she felt an incredibly powerful tingling sensation envelop her body—she couldn't breathe.

'Oh god, this is it…' She thought with horrifying consciousness.

Soja-no, howling the last words of the spell, watched as Kayura's body electrified.  Then all at once, a gigantic bolt of lightning shot from the sky down to the pillar.  The entire altar exploded with the force of the impact throwing huge chunks of stone into the air.  The blast sent Soja-no flying as well.  He hit the ground with a hard thud, knocking the wind out of his lungs.  Quickly he rolled onto his side to try and regain his breath without inhaling the large amounts of dust that had been flung into the air.

After several minutes had passed, with the dust settling and his coughing episode subsiding, he looked to see the damage.  In the center of the alter, where the pillar should have been, was now a large smoking crater--Kayura was nowhere to be seen.

***

Out of nowhere, a horrible pain filled roar erupted from the solid black sky.  Soja-no's mouth twisted into a feral grin.  "Ha, ha.  That's right you bastard—suffer and die."  He jeered lowly.  He watched with great pleasure as he saw the thick black clouds quickly pull back to its source—the massive abyss that hovered just above the castle.  Soon the only thing left in the sky was the abyss, however, it seemed to still be giving the Nether Realm's emperor a very hard time.

A frown quickly came to Soja-no's face. "That's…odd…" Then something happened that froze Soja-no's blood—a voice in the very back of his mind spoke quietly to him, sounding almost sad despite its obvious malevolence.

_"Is there something that I should be knowing about…Soja-no?"_

AN:  *gasps* I can already hear maryd's scream of bloody murder.  Don't hate me just yet!  The story isn't done!!!^^


	11. Lemmie at'em!

Hello my peoples, I have returned.  Sure there are plenty of reasons why I haven't updated sooner—one is that I've been lazy, and two I've been working.  But the biggest reason of all is that when me and moms moved, my computer decided it wanted to crash to the point where I couldn't even turn the thing on anymore—plus we had a month and a half break from school, so there was no computer for that either…yeah, just a bunch of garbage.  However, thanks to a relatively recent review from Angel of Midnight Darkness, it proved for motivation to get my butt in gear.  I have this chapter ready (obviously) and another that's in the works.  After that I'm looking to give the entire story from chapter one down a face-lift—no major plot changes, just fixing some spelling, grammar and other odds and ends.  Well, enough of my banter, on with the eleventh edition of my second posted fic, enjoy!

(As always, my characters are mine, and Sunrise's characters are theirs)

Chapter 11

He quickly shook the presence from himself.

"NOOOOO!!!!"  Soja-no growled angrily, his eyes shut tight, fists clenched and teeth viscously bared.

"Damn you!!!  He lives!!!"

'I don't understand it, how?  The mother was killed in the proper fashion, so why should he still be alive?!'  He questioned himself, his mind racing for answers.  This had NOT gone as he had planned, not at all.

"This calls the alternative…"

***

"Master Talpa," said Badamon, his voice quite in the ears of his overgrown emperor.  "We are experiencing a massive power flux from the enemy."

"And what does this mean to me?"

"It means sire that you will not have to expend as much energy fending this intruder off."

"Well, that's all fine and good Badamon, but I need to DEFEAT this thing, not break even with it!!  Think of something quickly before it has a chance to recover!!"

***

"It would appear that the attacks have let up quite a bit."  Dais concluded after taking a look around.

"But now what though?" asked Cale.

"It is obvious that Master Talpa is over burdened, we are going to have to think of something ourselves."  Sekhmet stated.

"I'll tell you what we're going to do now; we're going to look for Kayura.  She's our best bet at getting to the bottom of all of this." said Anubis.

"Hmm?  Why would Kayura know anything?"  Dais inquired.

"Because…" Anubis hesitated remembering his promise to Kayura.

"Go on." Sekhmet prodded.

"…Because Kayura mothered the creature that has been attacking us, that's why."

"Say again?  Anubis, what the hell are you talking about?" Cale demanded.

"Look, it's a very long story and I don't have time to explain it now.  Let's just go find Kayura and she can tell you for herself."

It wasn't long before the Warlords found themselves outside of Kayura's building.

"I just hope she's all right, I have a very bad feeling."  Anubis muttered more to himself than the others.  Before they could go inside, however, a man in black with piercing gray eyes met them.

"If you are looking for Lady Kayura, you won't find her."

"Who the hell are you, and how do you know that?"  Anubis snapped.

"I am Soja-no."

"Who?"  Cale questioned.

"Kayura spoke of this man…she says he's some sort of demon."  Anubis replied, deadly teal eyes trained on the man before him.

"You, what have you done with Kayura?"  Sekhmet demanded.

Soja-no sighed.  "It's not what I've done to her, it is what she has chosen to do."

"Just answer the damn question!"  Dais growled.

"If its answers you seek, I will gladly oblige.  My name is Soja-no; I am a demon from another dimension.  I have been sent here to help my master, the Grand Overlord, take over the Nether Realm in order to conquer Earth.  For him to enter this dimension, he had to be planted in the womb of a woman, i.e. Lady Kayura.  However, it was my plan all along to kill the Overlord.  To do this, the mother—Lady Kayura--had to be sacrificed in a special ritual.  It has worked to point, but was mostly a waste of time."

"So you're saying that Kayura is--" Anubis trailed, stunned by the notion.

"Humph, you're a quick study."  Soja-no quipped.

"You scoundrel!"  Cale spat, unsheathing his sword, Sekhmet following suit.

"A moment before you stain your blades with my blood—allow me a chance to explain-"

"The time for words is over, prepare to DIE!!"  Came Sekhmet's battle cry, rallying the others into a vengeful charge.

"WAIT!  I can tell you how to defeat him!"

The Warlords by now were mere feet from him, angry and primed for revenge.

"You've got two seconds before I gut you like a fish…_friend_."  Anubis hissed.

"Very well.  There is a power on Earth that is strong enough to defeat the Overlord.  It was placed there by my predecessors' many centuries ago when Earth's dimension was still mildly permeable.  If you can find it, you can beat back the Overlord."

"If it were as simple as you say, then why didn't you do that instead of _murdering_ Kayura!"  Dais yelled.

"Because we can no longer enter the Realm of the Mortal World."  Soja-no replied with infuriating calm.  "That's why the Overlord is trying to gain entree via the Nether Realm; this dimension directly links to its."

"But you killed her!"  Snarled Anubis grabbing a fist full of Soja-no's clothing and shoving him against the wooden wall.

"My apologizes, I did not anticipate failure—and I did notkill her in the way that you speak."

"For a man in your position, you seem awfully placid."  Anubis whispered to his face, ready to choke the life out of the man in his grip.

"Its only because killing me would put you at a great disadvantage."  Whispered back.

"…Maybe so," Anubis returned aloud, "but I assure you _I'll feel much better."_

"I wouldn't advise it.  As of now, I'm the only one who can help you get rid of the Overlord."

"…Fine…I'll let you live until this 'Overlord' is gone—but mark my words I'll have your head as a trophy when this is over."  The redhead threatened.

"As you wish."

Anubis released Soja-no roughly.  Taking a moment to reposition his clothing, Soja-no regarded the four seething men.  "Look to your mystical armors—there is a great untapped power within them.  If you successfully harness it, your victory shall come much more swiftly."

"Is that so?  Please tell us just exactly how you know this." Cale asked with a certain level of malice.

"We in my dimension have been studying the Nether Realm and its history for a very long time.  We know more about your armors than you could ever possibly imagine.  However this is beside the point and our time grows short.  As I said, you must harness your armors' dormant abilities.  For this you must go on a journey."

"Journey?  We do not have time for pilgrimages; our world is being destroyed now!"  Dais fumed.

"You'll have time enough for this."  The man before them said condescendingly.  "Your emperor is fairing better now than before; this gives you a window of opportunity.  You have your Lady Kayura to thank for that."

"Don't you _ever _say her name."  Anubis snarled.

Soja-no regarded him with an expressionless glance.  "If it was not for her sir…this world would have been destroyed long before now."  He said lowly.  "And as for your journey, you must seek the Guardian of the Sleeping Stone.  She will determine whether or not you are ready for your greater strength."

Finally offended by the stranger's incessant spiel, Cale stepped before him.  "How dare you?  Who are you to tell us about what we're capable of with our own armor?  Master Talpa alone controls the fate of our armor, not you or anyone else across _any_ dimension!"

"You are a foolish man indeed if you believe that.  Your armor is your own; it will listen to you if it is your voice that commands it.  If you let someone else control it, then that is your business.  I am simply providing you with an alternative to enslavement."

Without warning, Cale brought about his fist for a left hook, taking Soja-no by surprise.  He crumpled to one side with the unexpected blow.  His eyes darkened as he looked into the curiously scared face of the man above him.

"You really ought to control that temper of yours."  Soja-no grumbled as he wiped the blood from his mouth.  "It could cost you dearly."

"It is not wise for a man on his knees to make threats." 

"I could have easily killed any one of you—I still can. The reason you live now is because we share a common goal, I'm trying to help you.  It would pay for you to open your eyes and see yourselves for what you can be.  You should be as tired as I am from living under someone else's thumb."

 "Our master is our master," Dais interjected, "we believe in him and what he tells us.  We are not fools, we know that he has secrets and those are his to keep.  You've already killed one of our own, and I also don't think it's wise to speak ill of the one we serve."

Soja-no sighed heavily as he climbed to his feet.  "I suppose you are right.  Everyone learns what they need to know in their own time.  But as for now—I suggest you move swiftly, the Overlord is hardly spent, he regains his strength with each passing moment."

"So we're off then."  Said Anubis.  "But where exactly do we go to seek this Guardian?"

"It is deep in the woodland area of the Tembashi temple near Lake Biwaon, on the main island of Japan.  There will be a cave, look for the Guardian there."

Sekhmet sneered.  "If you are lying to us, so help me, may whatever god you worship have mercy on you." 

AN:  To all my usual reviewers, much, much love!  Be on the look out for a new summery for the next chapter, peace!!^^


	12. Shutyer Mouth an' Knowyer Role

Hello, I am SnowSystem, and this is my fic. (duh.) I am well aware that it's been almost two years since I last updated this story. Shameful isn't it? But I don't ever truly 'abandon' a story, _especially_ if its been posted. The commentary on the last chapter is not exactly valid anymore with this post, but it will be when I post chapter 13, and I will do that within a week from the time this was posted. I welcome new reviews and the old. Note to my older reviewers: I'm sooooo sorry…although this doesn't make up for it.

(Ronin Warriors is the property of Bandi and Sunrise)

Chapter 12

"I don't trust him. Anubis, how are you going to go along with what some stranger says? He's the enemy!" Cale fumed as they walked.

"He is the enemy of our enemy." He replied simply. "Our duty is to our master, and if playing a part in someone else's scheme for power is the only way to serve him, then so be it."

"You sound as if you don't have a problem with this." Dais accused.

"Of course I have a problem with this! How dare you think otherwise!" Anubis growled angrily.

"So what are we going to do?" Asked Sekhmet.

"How should I know outside of going to the Mortal World?"  
"Because you're the leader Anubis, you're supposed to know." Cale shot. Anubis paused in his gait to glare at him. "Humph. It seems only fitting that you would say something like that now. Any other time you'd be vying for my position as right hand, but the moment everything starts to go wrong I'm suddenly the valued and respected leader who must make all the decisions."

Cale returned the glare. "This is no time for power trips Anubis. It's your job to make the call. Personally I disagree with what you intend to do—there's no thought behind it, but it is only my place to follow."

"And I suppose you can come up with something better?"

"I'm just saying that we should reevaluate our situation before we let ourselves be lured from the Nether Realm!" Cale moved before him. "Did it ever cross your mind Anubis that this may be a trap?"

"Yes it has. But what difference would it make if it were a trap or not? Its not like we're being much help now."

"I think it's reckless."

"I think you should stop thinking. Truth or otherwise, we have to at least know."

"Know what? That you've been made a fool and you forced us to follow you?"

Anubis stepped to his subordinate, aggravation in his eyes. "We are going Cale, and that is my final word!"

"You're insane. But all right! Do as you please, we are but your humble servants." Anubis pushed passed him and began to storm on, not wishing to deal with any more cynicism. Dais watched him as Sekhmet looked to Cale.

"What?"

Sekhmet denoted nothing with a brief headshake before moving on. Dais gave Cale a glance as well before following. Cale glared at the three of them before letting out an indignant grunt. He failed to see why he suddenly became the bad guy.

It was late evening when the four men found themselves in a small wooded area just outside the appointed temple. At Anubis' suggestion, the group split to search the forest. They searched well into the night, finally meeting back at their arrival point several hours later.  
"Well," Cale began condescendingly. "It doesn't take a genius to realize we've been deceived. What say you now _oh_ fearless leader?"

"I say that we haven't searched hard enough."

"I say you have trouble accepting the fact that you were wrong. It was a fool's errand Anubis. We should return to the Nether Realm and aid our master by helping him fight that thing!"

"How do you propose to do that Cale, hmm? Take a megaphone and call it out for a showdown? Yes we must help Master Talpa, but we are of no use to him as we are now! That thing would kill us in a second, some cavalry we would be."

"Anubis, I'm trying to get you to see that being here is foolish!"

"And what I'm trying to get you to understand is that it does not make a difference if we are there or here! It will all end badly regardless, that is, if that one Soja-no has not told us the truth."

Cale sneered and looked away. "So this is what 'hoping against hope' is, how disgustingly pitiful."

"Shut-up Cale." Dais said at last. "Anubis is right. Whether we were deceived or not, I much rather be here with the chance of undoing this madness then to stand by in the Nether Realm close-minded and powerless."

"THEN WHAT DAIS, since you're so quick to jump to his aid!" Cale barked pointing at Anubis. "We've combed this entire area looking for this _cave_ for hours on end and found nothing but leaf-litter and darkness!"

"Be still Cale." Sekhmet dictated, his own frustrations with Cale becoming apparent.

"I will NOT be still! Am I the only one here who finds this lunacy utterly absurd?" Cale returned incredulously.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dais demanded.

"I'm in the company of _madmen_, that's what's wrong!"

"Then do what you will Cale, the only one 'mad' here is you. No one is forcing you to be along. You needn't follow me if that is not your desire. Keep your peace and be about your business." Anubis stated simply. Cale's face twisted into angry disbelieve.

"You can't just _dismiss _me! Who the hell do you think you _ARE_?"

"The _boss_."

Sufficiently humbled and embarrassed by this decree, Cale pursed his lips most indigently before turning away from him. In truth, Cale did not wish to admit his agreement with him and the others. The one thing he hated more that failing was being wrong and at the moment he was satisfying both, and feeling more than foolish for his shameless pessimism.

"Since you are still here, I assume that you've come to your senses." He heard Anubis say. "At any rate, back into the woods. I'm sure there's something that we've missed."

Cale turned back around, his body becoming hot as the gaze of the others fell on him.

"Perhaps we should wait till morning," he said in a subdued tone. "It will be easier for the rest of you." Anubis considered it for a moment.

"Very well. We will rest in the clearing till daybreak. I'm sure Master Talpa will be able to last a few more hours. Let us collect wood for a fire."


End file.
